Indoor Adventures: Keeping your Little One Engaged

Hey there, awesome moms with an only child! Today, I'm thrilled to share two ideas that made my life easier as a mom when my child was in the toddler stage. First, I brought an outdoor slide inside, and it was a game-changer! My daughter had a blast playing indoors, and it kept her happily occupied while I got things done. Plus, I turned two bottom drawers in the kitchen into her play zone, filled with age-appropriate pots, pans, plastic cups, and plates. This little kitchen play area allowed her to have fun while staying right by my side while I prepared meals.  

Transcript

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Hi, my name is Fawa and welcome to the Love and Focus, the podcast for minds where we explore, discover, build community with our only child. Let's get going. Okay, you know what I mean. Let's start with the program. Oh my goodness. When Olivia was a toddler, I found a few ways that really helped her and I. I needed to get some things done as mums do. You know, I had the dishes I had to do, the laundry, you know, things around the house, all things like I need to have some time to relax. And I'm like, seriously, I just need some time. Mummy's tired. I've been playing with you because you know, we didn't have a cat. Well no, we had cats, but the cats, you know, they didn't want to play with her um because they're like, Yeah, mile, I'll just take off somewhere. And we didn't have a dog, and so I was it. I was the person um constantly playing, you know, I was there by her side, and I was like, Man, I just need to sit down. And some parents were like, Well, why don't you sit down? Well, I, you know, still learning to give you some space, but here's what I found. We had this or discovered my husband and I, we bought this slide, and it was an outdoor slide, and you there's a little platform that you could stand on that she could stand on, and then go down the slide. So it was light enough for me to carry this anywhere. Like, if I needed to carry it, which I did outside um and move it around, I could without a sweat, and that's very helpful for someone who does not want to sweat a lot. Since I do sweat a lot, I'll let you know I sweat a lot. My pre-menopause, okay. Well, that's a bit too much information. So, this slide during the days when it was winter, you know, we live in Indiana, it's or snow, snow season, and or if it's just rainy, it's not a nice day. I would bring that slide inside the house. I did, folks, I put it inside my living room space because it was it was like a perfect fit, and so because we didn't have a lot of furniture and this slide wasn't that big, like it didn't, it wasn't like a really big and it took up a lot of space, but it was wonderful. So Olivia played on that slide, and she didn't need mama's hand, I didn't need to stand there, she just wanted me to see her go up and down the slide like multiple times while I'm washing the dishes, I'm sitting on the couch. Um, she could go up and down that slide by herself, and then she would take you inside toys if we're inside, and she would slide it down the slide, and it was so nice. And then the days when oh, it's a nice day, I would take that slide and I would take it outside, and it was easy to clean and wipe down when I needed to, you know, clean the bottom of it, like if it was outside and it was on the grass, and you know, got a little bit of muddy or dirt. I just wiped it off, and it was so nice. So if you have a slide that's light and easy for you to lift up, and you have room inside your house, and it may work like okay, I don't want to put it in my living room. I also need I can put it down in the basement, or I can put it inside the bedroom. I would consider that because then your child can you know play on that, you know, on the slide, and you can just go about doing your thing wherever you whatever you need to do, like oh, I can do my laundry in the same room, or I can just relax on I don't know what you want to do, and they and it's their favorite thing to do, or they really enjoy doing that. That is great, and they probably might discover new things about their slide, like oh, um, like if you want to let them decorate the slide when they bring it inside the house, put stickers on it, I'm not sure, you know, or even color it with washable markers. There might be something that is fun, keeps your child entertained or um occupied, whatever you want to say, busy while you're while you're when you're doing your thing or you're relaxing, and that's what I love about that. So that slide, we kept that slide right up till just last about two weeks ago. We gave that slide to our next door neighbor, and so yeah, that was a great investment. And so for us, um, another activity that I did with Olivia was uh in the kitchen. I had um we baby proof um locked all the cabinets in the kitchen and drawers except for uh two bottom drawers in the kitchen where she could open it herself, and I put in like her um play cups, her pots and pens. Now, these pots and pans that I got they were real pots and pans, but they were small enough um at the time where she could hold it, and if she wanted to make some noise, and I gave her some wooden spoons, but they were age appropriate, so I made sure that the the handle I found some spoons that wasn't too big, where um the length was too long, or if she was gonna put it in her mouth, you know, she wasn't gonna choke on it. So I looked for specific um safety utensils that were real and that she could use as well because if I could get some real and I don't not to say that they weren't um like um like they weren't toy ones, I'm gonna say yeah. Um for me I just wanted to go with something that she could use, and as we're growing, as she was growing up, if she was cooking with grandma, she could use the utensils, some of the utensils that she had um cooking or you know using it, so she would be more familiar with it, and I she really enjoyed it, and so I didn't put a lot in the drawer, uh, because I don't want to be picking up all the stuff when I was in the kitchen and they're laying out on the floor. But what I found out when um I was in the kitchen and she was you know going to the drawer, she would just stay in uh a certain area and she would get them out because she knew, and then not only when she got them out, it's a teachable moment. So I was like, Olivia, okay, let's put the you know, let's put the pots and pans and the cups back into the drawer, and so that was also just a small and practical way, and she's getting things out of the drawer, she is putting them back now. Yes, I had to help her a lot, and I still remind her every now and then, but she knew where things went, so she got them out. Mommy's gonna help you and encourage you to put them back. But remember, I didn't I didn't fill the drawer with a lot, just a handful of things where it's easy because a I don't want to be picking them up all the time by myself if she wasn't there, and I didn't want them to be flying everywhere. I just and if I did step on it, which I didn't usually, you know, I didn't want to break it, but they were um pots and pans that were age appropriate for her, so you can find them on Amazon, or you might have and also these pots and pans and cups weren't these weren't the ones that if when I was um making in dinner and serving it up, these weren't the main ones that I was like, okay, get your pot and pan, uh get your plate out. No, I had a different uh pl plate for her in main uh pots and pans I would use to cook because these were her plain, these were her plain ones that they they would she would just play with all the time, and so that is um something I did as well, and that occupied her, kept her busy. Um when I needed to do something in the kitchen, like have a cup of tea, get dishes um clean up, clean the sink, um, you know, just do things she could just get them out as well because she wanted to be beside me, but um she knew just to go to the drawer, and so mums. I hope those two tips with the slide and the pots and pans, maybe you're doing something like that, or you have a similar um tip that you can share. I I would love for you to put that in the feedback, or just um there's a feedback, just write a comment because that was really helpful. I learned that I think from Pinterest. Oh no, actually, my sister, my sister told me about the pots and pants, and I was like, that's such a wonderful idea. And so the slide, um, how I came about that. I think it was it was just a rainy day, and I was looking at the slide outside, and I was like, Meah, you wanna Livia really likes to play on the slide, and we don't have we only have couches and a chair, you know, your furniture inside. I thought, why don't I just bring it inside, just wipe it down with a towel, and she can slide inside the house, and it worked. I was so happy with myself. I think I I'm sure I high-fived myself, like woohoo, that's such a great idea for an i think of that before. So I wanted to share that. So, moms, I'm just letting you know that oh I I hear your heart, we are playing with our child while we are you know getting our house organized, we're cooking dinner, or if we're not cooking dinner, you know, we're doing things, we're we're um looking after, serving our husbands, and also um, we're encouraging um our family, we're encouraging ourselves, and I just wanted you to hear my heart how much of a wonderful mother you are, mom. If you're listening, you are the best mom for your child, and you are a wonderful wife, you are doing the best you can with the time that's given, and I wanted you to hear just um to remind you that you are also a wonderful friend, and even though today might have been a little bit tough and you're a little bit tired, I understand there's only so much we can do, and we need a little downtime. Meaning, we need a little break, whatever that looks, you might need a cup of tea. Me, it's always like a little chocolate with a cup of tea and uh some chippies. I I better not go on with all the food I need, you know. I just need a little break just to get my energy back, take some time for some others. It might be just I need to watch movies for some, might be praying for me. It's praying a lot, and just having a wonderful time with God while I'm with Olivia, putting some worship songs on. But whatever works for you, while your child is playing and just you know, spending time, you know, just being occupied, and you can still see them in the same room. Uh, and just I I hope that you can hear. Um, I'm just giving you a hug and saying, You are a wonderful mother, you you truly are. You're raising this child, you're encouraging them, and I wanted to encourage you. So I hope that these two tips um that it works for you, and maybe there's something for you that you're already doing that you can like improvise it, like you know what, the slide doesn't, but I have something else outside that I didn't think about, I could bring that inside the house. So I just want to say, yeah, just try it, and hopefully that works. And so, once again, my name is Four for comment, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast, Love in Focus, Building a Community with an Only Child, because we are definitely wonderful moms that are doing our best, loving on our child, loving on our husband, and also remember to love on yourself. So, thank you once again. This is love and focus, building community with an only child. Thank you for liking it. Thank you for following my podcast. I just want to let you know that uh I'm giving you a hug and I'm cheering you on as you are in a new location or maybe in a new season in your life with your only child, mom. You are not alone, you can do this. My name is Four Comment. I'll see you, or you'll hear from me in the next episode. Bye.